Final Countdown
by Muse-icfan756
Summary: Olena Belikova appears to have contracted a mysterious disease that spirit can't cure. Rose, Lissa and the gang travel to Russia to help find out what it is. Will they finally uncover the mysteries of spirit? Set after LS. Richelle Mead owns VA, not me.
1. Chapter 1

I stood in the Court's field and waited anxiously for Dimitri.

"Don't worry," Lissa murmured. "He'll be fine." I shook my head. Recently, everybody had found out about Dimitri and I, and my parents weren't happy. Thinking about what Abe had said to _Adrian_ when we got together, I didn't even want to imagine what kind of hell Dimitri was going through. It would've happened sooner if he wasn't being my bodyguard during my healing time.

"I don't know," I muttered. "Abe can be pretty scary." She knew that well enough. Or did she? I still hadn't got used to having the bond. It was only now that I realised how much I'd relied on it. I was suddenly thankful that Alberta had tested me during the field experience. Being a guardian would be this much harder now, especially as she was the Queen and pretty much the last of her kind. Apart from Jill. Christian, Lissa's annoying, sarcastic boyfriend wandered over.

"He's brave because he _loves _you," he smirked, and then he turned his back to me and started rubbing his hands down it, mimicking Dimitri. "Oh, Roza. Oh, Roza!" I smacked him around the back of his head and he stopped abruptly. However, apart from his crap version of a Russian accent, he'd got it pretty spot on. We were will known for, how do I put this lightly, expressing our love. Not, like, publicly, but he was very, very affectionate over me. Christian laughed and I saw a small smile spread over Lissa's face. Suddenly, on the other side of the field, I saw a tall figure come into view. I grinned and sprinted over to him. He opened his arms wide and I fell into them, burying my face into his chest, smelling the gorgeous scent of his aftershave. He was mine, and I was glad.

"I'm so glad you're okay," I gasped.

"Okay? What do you think Abe could do to me?" he chuckled.

"Lots of things. He has a mafia of guardians."

"Oh, Roza. You worry too much. I was fine." I could still hear his voice tremble, though. Christian and Lissa soon turned up behind us.

"What did I tell you?" that snarky voice which I had somehow grown to like muttered. Christian was behind it, "Roza, Roza." Dimitri's playful glare wasn't enough to silence him, probably because his eyes were laughing. My smile was hidden in his duster, which he still wore in the height of summer. Tomorrow, we would be official guardians and get sent off with our charges, so guardians all over the court were enjoying their last day of freedom. Even the Queen's guardians were on quite loose duty. We went back to the rooms and I grabbed hold of Dimitri's hand in mine.

"Please tell me what they said. I've been in agony since this morning," I pleaded with him. We sat down on the plumped up bed together. "Was it scarier than Strigoi?"

"Yes," he was actually shaking. "It was. You don't realise where you got it from."

"What did Abe say?" I could feel myself trembling.

"Oh, he threatened to kill me if I hurt you. In great detail." He seemed very blasé

"You don't sound _that_ bothered."

"It's more your mother I'm worried about. Janine Hathaway is just as feisty and ferocious as you are. All I will say is that thank goodness Lissa is queen and not somebody who would punish me." Thousands of ridiculous images cropped up in my head, but I ignored them. I was just so glad that he was unhurt. Not a single scratch on his perfect face. Just how he should be. I leaned in to kiss him when my phone rang.

"Ignore it," he mumbled, but it was vibrating against my leg. I reached down to put it on silent, when I saw the number. I quickly pushed it onto speakerphone, knowing Dimitri would want to hear. We didn't keep secrets anymore.

"Hello?" a tentative voice with a Russian accent asked.

"Hey, Viktoria. How's it going?" I saw Dimitri eyes widen, and then a gorgeous smile spread across his face. It lit up his beautiful features and I wanted to jump him there and then. But this conversation was important.

"Rose? You're alive? Oh thank goodness! I thought-" I never got to hear what she thought because she was interrupted by somebody tall dark and Russian.

"Viktoria?" It was strange, but his velvety accent seemed even more pronounced when he spoke to hear. It was like music to my ears.

"D-Dimka?" she stuttered.

"Yes, Viktoria. It's me! I'm alive. I'm not Strigoi!" There was a scream from the other end of the line and then she asked breathlessly,

"How?"

"I was saved by Rose and Vasilisa."

"Oh my goodness! I can't believe it." They started talking to each other rapidly in Russian, and as I watched Dimitri, I knew that this was most definitely the way he was born to speak. It was like he'd been made for it. However, I couldn't understand a word.

"Er, guys," I began. "I hate to interrupt this lovely, um, chat you're having here, but why exactly did you call me?"

"Oh, well, I didn't want to call Dimka because that would've been creepy if he was still Strigoi." Her saying that reminded me of how harsh his Strigoi voice was. I never wanted to hear it again. "And, I had an apology to make. I'm really sorry about what I said to you before you left. I was annoyed and I thought he really did love me."

"What do you mean?" Dimitri questioned with a perplexed expression on his face.

"Oh, well, I, um, was saved by Rose and Abe. From becoming a, uh, blood wh-" It turns out he decided not to hear the rest. Instead he shot me a very grateful look. "So yeah, Rose, thanks for saving me. Secondly, thank you so, so much for saving my brother! I can't honestly thank you enough for what you've done for me."

"My pleasure," I murmured.

"And third, well, you see my mother's ill."

"Mama's ill?" Dimitri's expression dropped and he suddenly seemed so feeble. His family were worth everything to him.

"Why don't you just use spirit to heal her?" I asked.

"We can't. Oksana tried but it wouldn't work." A illness that couldn't be healed with spirit? Unheard of. "We need your help. Please. We have to save her." I glanced at Dimitri and then nodded.

"We'll be there."


	2. Chapter 2

After we put down the phone, which took forever as Dimitri was trying to send his love to every person in the whole of Baia, we ran to Lissa's room. I knocked on the door, hoping that she was just chatting or something. Without the bond, she had more privacy, which was good for her, but not so go for me. Thankfully she answered quickly.

"Rose?" she asked. "Dimitri?" Christian was lounging in the plumped up armchair in the corner.

"Bad timing," he muttered, shaking his head. I realised that his hair was a bit ruffled and snickered.

"What's the matter?"

"Well," I began, perching on the edge of the bed, "Dimitri's mother is ill. Desperately ill."

"Oh! How awful! But," she pondered, "didn't you say you met a spirit user over there? Why doesn't she just heal her?"

"She can't. They've already tried."

"She _can't_? How? Why not? That doesn't make sense!"

"I know, we've been through this. I was wondering whether you would be able to help us."

"Rose, I'm off to college tomorrow. We can't go anywhere, especially not Russia."

"But you're queen," I pleaded, knowing it was my only hope. As her official guardian, if I broke away, I would get sacked. Not good.

"Which is even more reason why I can't go. The community is going to struggle enough with me being in Lehigh, let alone off in Russia."

"Why are you even bothering in college? You're queen. You don't need college. You already have a job, perfectly laid out in front of you with royal trimmings." Not just royal trimmings. Royal everything.

"I _want_ to go to college. It's respectable." I snorted. "Rose, I'm sorry. I just can't do this."

"Please?" We both looked over at Dimitri's tragic face. I hated seeing him like that. It was almost as bad as when he was acting Strigoi. I just wanted to wipe it of his face and tell him everything would be all right, even if it wasn't. "Don't do it for me. Do it for Dimitri. Do it for _yourself._ There's so much information out there. You could gain new skills and find out why the disease can't be cured and maybe cure it and you could say that you're visiting your subjects and...and" I ran out of words.

"Rose," Christian chipped in, "Why don't Dimitri and I go alone? I don't want to go to college, and it's not like Aunt Tasha can force me anymore." His face turned sad at the mention of Tasha.

"Nice try, fireboy, but which one of you is going to heal her?" I questioned. His face showed that he hadn't really thought of that.

"Well, Lissa, I think you should go. On official queen business. You could say you're exploring, or planning to move the Royal Court."

"I don't want to move the Royal Court! America's great!" she exclaimed.

"No, you can just _pretend_ to. As an excuse." The Court can contact you via phone, webcam and guardians. It'll be fun."

"But we'll have to take all my guardians with us."

"And? It's not private business. They can come." I watched Christian do his magic as his blue eyes turned soft, and I knew Lissa was turning to jelly inside.

"I don't know," she mumbled.

"Please?" We pleaded. Even Dimitri joined in, but he didn't quite go for the dramatic, grovelling on the floor like I did.

"Fine," she sighed.

"Yes!" I cheered.

"But you'd better realise that we can't stay long. The Court won't be very happy with me."

"We'll you've already settled most of the problems. They'll be fine for a few weeks." Christian waved us off and we went back to our room. I put my arms around Dimitri who stiffly returned the favour.

"It's going to be okay," I murmured. "Everything will be fine. Lissa will fix it."

"I hope so," he muttered. "I hope so."

**What did you think? Review please!**


	3. Chapter 3

_How I love not being shadow-kissed anymore,_ I thought cheerfully to myself. No more darkness. No more ghostly figures begging me to join their ranks. Just me, myself and I. Sort of. If you don't count the little voice that will probably start developing. I sipped on my soda and glanced out of the plane window. When I looked down after we first left the airport, I'd watched the ground spiralling away as we circled up towards the heavens, but now, as I peered down, all I could see were fluffy clouds. I glanced beside me and saw Dimitri with his head in his hands. I put an arm around him awkwardly.

"Come on, comrade," I said brightly, trying to lighten his mood unsuccessfully. "Have a little faith. We'll sort this out, don't you worry." He sighed and moaned into his hands. I patted his head and looked behind me. Lissa was sat with Christian and they were chatting over the movie that they were playing on the screen. Their guardians were spaced around her, not that any Strigoi would be able to get onto this plane high up in the sky. You could never be too safe. I heard the seatbelt button _ping_ and I quickly clipped it into place. The voice on the intercom announced our descent into Novosibirsk. I hadn't known that Novosibirsk had an airport. I looked outside and saw the mountains start to poke up through the cloud cover. I patted Dimitri's arm and urged him to look with me. I heard Lissa behind me do the same. The city came into view and I saw the houses that I loved so much looking like ants on the ground.

We landed in the airport and got off the plane. I tapped my foot on the floor as I waited for our baggage to spin around the revolving machine, all the while keeping my eye on Lissa. This was a human airport and it would look weird if I was full-on guarding her. After all, it _was_ daytime. Our bags came around and I lugged mine and Lissa's behind me. She had several, being queen, and I swapped arms from time to time. We hired some cars and Dimitri drove us to his house. I sat in the seat beside him and watched as he pointed out scenery. Seeing his home town lit his face up a bit, but he couldn't quite keep the sadness off of his face. I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. I definitely wasn't as close to my mother as Dimitri was to his, but I knew I would be upset if my mother had a chronic disease or something. I squeezed his free hand tightly to encourage him and he smiled slightly my way. Eventually, we arrived at his mother's house. I looked out at the sun setting over Baia. I recognised everything; all the little houses, the pretty gardens, the small bakery. It was beautiful. Like something I couldn't imagine.

We opened the car door, leaving our bags in the boot for a little while, and I looked up into the blue sky. We walked casually along beside the Moroi and then Dimitri knocked on the door. He squeezed my hands tighter and I could feel that they were a bit clammy. What was he worried about? His family would be so pleased to see him? Did he not realise just how much they loved him? I wouldn't be surprised if they'd created a shrine to him by now. In fact, I could picture that perfectly in my head. A picture of Dimitri surrounded by an old stake, a lock of hair, a piece of writing by him, a prophecy by his Gran; yeah, that would be pretty cool. Sad, but cool. We heard someone calling something in Russian and I realised that one of Lissa's guardians, Mark, could speak Russian and was trying to make out what was being said. I guess that would be useful if Yeva refused to speak English again. A figure appeared behind the glass on the door and she was about my height and slender. I wondered which sister it was. She unlocked the door and I carefully watched Dimitri's face as he gulped and prepared to greet his family. I flashed him an encouraging smile and then turned to the door that was slowly creaking open to reveal Viktoria standing there and gaping at all of us.

**Please review for another chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

"Dimka!" she cried. "You came!" She threw herself at Dimitri and wrapped her arms around his stomach. He smiled and pressed his face into her hair. The other guardians just stared.

"That's Dimitri's sister," I explained. A guardian who I think was Nicolas frowned.

"You came here to see another guardian's family?" he questioned, not liking it. I raised my eyebrows at Lissa and she took over, telling him why we were here. Suddenly, there was another squeal, and we turned to see Karolina carrying Paul and Sonya holding her stomach. She looked like she could give birth any day now.

"Dimka! You're alive?" Karolina rushed forwards, but Sonya stayed back.

"Karo!" she called. "He could still be Strigoi."

"He's standing in the sunlight." I gestured to the sky and the big smile on Dimitri's face. He still had his arm wrapped around Viktoria. Karolina cautiously moved forward, inspected Dimitri-who was now looking very angry- and then burst into tears.

"You're alive! Oh God, you're alive!"

"Didn't you tell them?" Dimitri asked Viktoria. She shook her head guiltily.

"Oh, wait until Mama sees this!" We all traipsed into the house, leaving the bags in the car briefly, to where Olena was lying on a sofa with Yeva sitting at the side. Her eyes fluttered open and she broke into a smile.

"Dimka!" Olena shrieked. "You're alive! Oh, Rose, thank you so much!"

"Don't thank me," I said. "Thank Lissa." Lissa stepped forward and Olena bent her head.

"Your Majesty."

"Oh, um, please just call me Lissa," she answered awkwardly.

"Of course. I've heard a lot about you." Lissa shot me a dangerous look and I grinned. Yeva stood up from her chair and started reprimanding Dimitri.

"Chto vy dumaete, chto vy delali, malʹchik?" she asked him, poking him in the chest with her finger.

"Mne ochenʹ zhalʹ, babushka," he replied with an anxious look on his face.

"Vy stali Strigoev! Vy izvinite! Chto oni nauchitʹ vas v etoĭ shkole?" Everyone apart from me and one of Lissa's guardians was giggling now.

"What is she saying?" I asked Lissa. I knew Yeva's dangerous reputation. Last time I was here, she pretended not to speak English.

"She's telling him off for not being observant enough in the Strigoi fight."

"Babushka, pozhaluĭsta, poslushaĭte menya!" Dimitri pleaded.

"Net, vy sobiraetesʹ delatʹ to, chto ya govoryu, na etot raz. Chto ya preduprezhdayu vas, prezhde chem poshel v shkolu, chto amerikanskie?" Yeva yelled.

"Budʹte ostorozhny. YA znayu. Roza pomogla mne." At the mention of my name, she turned and, to my surprise, gave me a big hug.

"Spasibo, Roza"

"Uh... Priglashaem Vas." I tried to remember the little Russian that I knew, and she smiled. Dimitri gave me a funny look.

"So, how did you bring Dimka back?" Olena asked Lissa, turning the subject away from her son's punishment. She explained the story, earning a few gasps, and also told about our recent scandal.

"You stupid boy!" she scolded him. "You ran away!" Dimitri look mortified at being told off in front of all these other people. He was really going to get it when we were alone.

"It was for the greater good! Look where I am now!" He gestured behind him, basically telling her that he's guarding Lord Ozera and he has the love of his life. I smiled.

"Do you want to see your rooms?" Sonya asked. I hoped they had enough room for all the guardians.

Lissa and I were staying in the room next to Dimitri's bedroom where he was staying with Christian. After we'd unpacked, I excused myself and swapped places with Christian. Dimitri was sat on the bed, staring out the window.

"Ya tebya lyublyu, Dimka," I told him. The words sounded clumsy coming out of my mouth. He grinned and kissed me.

"Ya tebya lyublyu, Roza."

"Are you glad to be back?"

"Yes. Yes I am. I hoped everything works out okay, though." I hugged him for support and then went back to Lissa, setting up my guarding space for the night.

**What do you think? I got most of the Russian off of Google translate so it's probably wrong, but you can probably get the gist of it. So, yeah, Ya tebya lyublyu! 3 please review**


	5. Chapter 5

The gorgeous Hawaiian beach materialised around me and I watched the waves crash against the shore.

"Roza?" The voice of my Russian God carried towards me in the light breeze. I turned to see him smiling at me. Running towards him, I threw my arms around him and we kissed passionately. Here, in my dream land, it was never _quite_ as good as real, but at least we were alone without having to be careful about upsetting his family. We were just getting into the swing of things when somebody cleared their throat delicately. We turned with guilty expressions to face Lissa, her pale hair blowing around.

"This isn't your dream, you know," she explained. "I made it." It took me a second to grasp what she meant.

"You can dream-walk now? Lissa that's great!"I turned. "How did you make Dimitri?" He looked hurt.

"I'm in the same dream as you, Roza."

"Oh."

"I've been practicing on Christian for a few weeks and then suddenly, Adrian turned up. You should've seen his face! He was accusing me of taking over his abilities," Lissa laughed. "So, I can have two people in a spirit dream at once." I was thinking about the benefits of this and I presumed Dimitri was too, from the thoughtful expression on his face. "No, Rose. I'd rather you didn't use it for private Dimitri time. Remember, I'm here too. I think his idea of using it as maybe private discussions would be better." I glanced at Dimitri and we both gave her a confused look.

"Lissa, we didn't say anything."

"Yes, you did. Ugh, my hearing's gone all funny. Can you speak louder please?" I wished I had the bond to see what she was going on about. "Well, I'm _glad _you don't have the bond." Okay, this was getting really freaky now. "What's freaky is how you say something and then say something else completely irrelevant straight after. Can't you keep your thoughts to yourself?" I think it hit Dimitri right then, as his eyes widened and he seemed to understand. I gave him a quizzical look.

"Lissa, I think that you're reading our thoughts," he said.

"Reading your thoughts?"

"Yes. What do the other things that we don't seem to remember saying sound like?"

"They're all blurry and weird. Thank God it's only you two." Oh. Crap.

"Lissa," I began slowly. "I think this is more spirit stuff. You're gonna need to put up some sort of wall, or learn how to control it or something." Now that Lissa was trying to find out how to heal Olena, Queen of the Moroi and fumbling around with new spirit powers, the darkness was going to become awful. If only we had the bond...

"Rose, don't worry about me. I'll be fine." She ended with that and the dream dissolved.

I woke up and turned to where she was lying on the floor with her hands on her temples.

"Lissa," I hissed. "You're supposed to be asleep."

"I couldn't sleep. I wanted to try this out." I sighed. Looking over at the clock, I realised I only had two more hours of sleep until the next guardian would want to sleep. However, now that I'd had _some_ sleep, my body didn't seem to want to go back to bed. I lay there for about an hour and then decided that I would relieve Polina early. She gratefully accepted so I stood in front of Lissa's door, stake in pocket. I didn't want to read a book, I had no music player...Never mind. I would be fine. I was a Guardian. About an hour later, Dimitri swapped with one of Christian's guardians. I smiled at him. He smiled back. I winked at him. He winked back. I waved at him. He waved back. I could tell that he was at home here. It was so easy to see. Maybe by the way he leaned against the wall instead of worrying about the paint work like all the other guardians. The way he didn't seem scared of anything at all around here. It was nice to see him happy. It made _me_ happy. We were on a bit of a weird schedule. Because we'd arrived in the afternoon, we went to bed at human time, but we wanted to wake up vampire time. The entire community was dhampir, and we were never sure what schedule we were on. So, we stuck somewhere in between the two. It was about midday when I heard signs of Lissa waking up from behind me, so I poked my head in. Polina was relaxing on the bed with some romance novel. Lissa grinned at me from her bed and then shooed Polina out the door. She was nice, a good guardian, but quite quiet. I'd have to liven things up for her.

**So, what did you think? Too much crazy spirit? Did you like the crazy spirit? 3 please review**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks to dimka-roza-belikova for this idea. I don't own Vampire Academy.**

When we were all dressed and ready, we headed downstairs. Sonya was now doing the housework because Olena was ill, and she'd made us that yummy black bread. She'd never told me what was in it, and I didn't think I wanted to know. During breakfast, there was a knock at the door. Viktoria went to get it, and she brought back a young woman.

"Rose?" she gasped.

"Sydney?" I asked at the same time. "What are you doing here?"

"I was asked by Abe to come and see if I could help Olena Belikova. What are _you _doing here?"

"I was asked by _Viktoria _to come and help Olena Belikova."

"Hmmmm. What have you got so far?"

"Nothing. We're eating." She shook her head as she saw the amount og bread on my plate,

"You're going to deprive this family of their food." Dimitri and I grinned, at ease with Sydney around. The others, however, wanted to know what she was doing here. I took a lot of explaining about how we knew her blah blah blah. Whatever. I wanted to get on and help Olena.

Lissa went over to her and pressed her hands on her arm. She was probably conjuring up the magic, although I couldn't feel it without the bond anymore. Thank God Alberta had made be do the field experience with Christian instead. We all watched curiously as Olena just laid there and looked at Lissa. Lissa finally stopped healing. She fell backwards and panted. I caught her in my arms and helped her back up.

"You okay?" I asked her.

"Yeah. Fine. I have absolutely no idea what sort of illness you have, Olena. I'm sorry, but it may take some time to figure it out."

"Of course. That's fine," Olena told her.

"Does Oksana still live here?" Dimitri wondered.

"Yes, she does."

"Who's Oksana?" Lissa wondered.

"She's a friend of ours that uses spirit. She's bonded to her husband."

"Oh! Yes, let's go and see them." We said goodbye to the Belikovs, although Viktoria insisted on coming with us. Trudging to Oksana's house, I noticed something was up with Sydney. She looked in a bit of a daze. I nudged her and she looked back at me.

"What's up with you then, little miss I'm-in-a-dream? You look like you've fallen in love."

"I think I have," she murmured. Oh. Crap. Sydney's fallen in love?

"With?" I prompted. She avoided the question.

"Are spirit dreams always that...real?"

"Yep. Who's been visiting you?" She looked guilty.

"Adrian Ivashkov." My eyes widened. No way! He hadn't spoken to me since our previous 'heated discussion', but from what I'd heard, he'd become a bit of a flirt monster. I couldn't have him messing with Sydney.

"Sydney, you _can't_. He's dangerous."

"Dangerous?" she scoffed. "I think you're just jealous that I'm in love with your old boyfriend."

"No I'm not! I'm perfectly happy with Dimitri." He turned and gave me a questioning look, so I lowered my voice. "He'll heart your heart. Do you know how many girls he messes with?"

"Yes, Rose. But he's my age. And he's such a charmer, and he's, oh, so gorgeous too." Yes, I could see her point. I mentally slapped myself for thinking it just as Lissa shot me an accusing glance. Damn. I'd forgotten about her creepy mind-reading. So Adrian was in love with Sydney. Of course, she hadn't dropped the bombshell yet. "And he's coming here."

"What?" I yelled. Polina scolded me for not being in guardian form, so I had to leave it at that. I'd also forgotten how strict guardian rules were for the Queen. I hoped that Lissa would cut us some slack. We reached Oksana's house.

"I think I should go up first," Dimitri declared.

"Are you sure? You might give her a heart attack," I laughed. He rolled his eyes and knocked on the door. **So, what did you think? Too much crazy spirit? Did you like the crazy spirit? 3 please review**


	7. Chapter 7

**I don't own Vampire Academy.**

Oksana opened the door and wasn't surprised at all. I'd expected her to be squealing like everyone else. Instead, she reached out and hugged him with a big grin on her face.

"The Belikov's couldn't hold it in for long," she explained. Dimitri chuckled. Obviously his family had rung up all their friends. I wouldn't be surprised if they'd gone running through the streets yelling about it. Mark appeared at the door behind her. He shook Dimitri's hand and turned to the rest of us. They both bowed to Lissa, who awkwardly asked them to simply "call me Lissa".

"So you're Rose's bond partner," he realised, smiling.

"Well, actually, no," I told him.

"I thought you said you were bonded to her?"

"I _was_."

"It seems we have a lot of explaining to do." Oksana invited us in and we sat down around her tiny table, the rest of the guardians lining the wall. Lissa and Christian didn't have as many guards as usual; they thought it was unnecessary to have twelve each like Tatiana had. Instead, Lissa had five and Christian had four. Still a large amount, but Lissa was the last-no, second last-Dragomir and the Moroi queen. Lissa told the story of everything, including our recent breakout that earned a couple of grumbles from Sydney.

"So, your bond is gone?" Oksana asked. We nodded and they glanced at each other. I wondered if they were as comfortable with the bond as we thought.

"What is it that you actually came to talk to us about?" Mark wondered.

"Well, you probably know about Olena and the uncurable disease thing," I began. "So, we came to see if you had found anything."

"Nope. Nothing. We have absolutely no idea what it could possibly be."

"Well, neither do we." There was an awkward silence.

"Why don't we come back to your house, then?" Oksana suggested. We all swivelled to look at Viktoria.

"I'm sure Mama won't mind," she replied. We trudge back to the Belikov's house. Sydney still looked really odd, and I was so worried for her mental health. Viktoria unlocked the door for us and we headed through to Olena. She seemed surprised to have this many people in her house. Yeva went upstairs, grumbling something in Russian. I saw Dimitri grin. Oksana and Lissa both placed their hands over Olena. They gritted their teeth and the power was so strong it was almost visible. But nothing happened. Olena just stared blankly at the ceiling. Lissa panted and I caught her again. Olena was wracking with coughs and she groaned. She was getting worse and worse by the minute.

"Oh, God, Mama," Dimitri cried. "What will we do?" I felt so helpless so I took my position as a guardian at the side of the room. It wasn't like I could do anything whilst we were fumbling from ideas. I wracked my brain for anything and then, suddenly, it came to me.

"Olena, do you remember anything strange happening to you before you got this...disease? Anybody you met?" Everyone turned to me simultaneously.

"Er...why?" she wondered.

"Because I was wondering who gave it to you."

"Well, besides my family, I spoke to an Alchemist, a guy called Spiridon and-" Wait? Spiridon? Crap. Lissa's eyes widened and she seemed to have come to the same conclusion as I had.

"Wait? Was he a dhampir?"

"Yes..." I squeezed my eyes shut.

"He was a guardian for Victor Dashkov," Lissa told her. "What if he's done something?"

"He can't do anything," I said.

"Why not?"

"Because...because...Oh God." Dimitri came and held me tight to him.

"Because what?" Christian prompted.

"She killed him." Dimitri said it for me. I couldn't bear to. The room fell silent.

**Oooh. Did you like it? Do you have any guesses as to what happened?**


	8. Chapter 8

**Ok, just to clear up the confusion. Spiridon isn't an Alchemist, Olena spoke to and Alchemist AND Spiridon.**

**Disclaimer: Richelle Mead owns all.**

Christian was the first to speak, "Wait, you, like, murdered a Moroi?" I nodded meekly and his eyes widened. Of course Lissa came to my defence.

"So did Eddie, but he did it for good reason. Victor Dashkov wasn't exactly the nicest of people." Her eyes narrowed and I wondered what the bond would've been telling me now.

"It's about time someone got rid of that meddling fool," Yeva called from the stairs. There were a couple of nods from the Belikov's, but the guardians still looked angry.

"Why did you murder him?" one of them barked.

"Well," I began, "I was affected by spirit coming from Lissa and-"

"Oh, God, Rose. I'm sorry!" she cried.

"It's not your fault. Anyway, Victor Dashkov had been broken out of prison and was on the loose, and whilst we were finding information on Jill Dragomir, we came across him. We were going to turn him in, but they tried to run away and..."

Dimitri continued for me, "Victor was using his earth magic to make the floor move. Rose was helpless so she just had to make the jump and, well, she threw him against a wall."

"He would've died soon anyway," Yeva informed us and Viktoria snorted.

"That's not very nice, Babushka."

"So, Rose, how does this link to my illness?" Olena asked, kindly diverting us from my shame.

"Well, Spiridon was working for Victor Dashkov. Obviously he somehow got out of prison, and Victor Dashkov had a brother who used spirit," I explained. It all fell together in pieces. "His name is Robert Doru. Robert was, well, enraged at his brother's death, so he may've broken Spiridon out of jail to help him. Was anybody with him when you saw him?"

"No, but there was a man watching us from across he road."

"Oh dear. I have a feeling Spiridon and Robert are working together on something."

"How does this explain her illness, though?" Lissa wondered.

"Complusion." I received blank looks from everyone. "Come on, guys! Everyone knows that spirit users can do some really awesome compulsion, so maybe Robert compelled the disease into her."

"That's not possible," Polina answered.

"Not in _your_ mind, but in ours...Lissa, show them what I mean." She gulped and turned to Christian. His smirk dropped off of his face and his eyes glazed over.

"Go talk to Yeva," she murmured sweetly, and he walked up robotically and sat by her on the stairs. She leaned away. Lissa broke the compulsion.

"What about dhampirs?" another guardian questioned. Of course, Lissa turned to me. I hated being compelled. It made me feel weak.

"Get a drink from the kitchen," she ordered softly. I felt myself walking towards the kitchen and getting a glass of water. I handed it to her and she grinned.

"That's not enough. She might just do it to help you." Lissa turned on that guardian and I wondered whether she was being kind or not. By the looks of his wide eyes, she wasn't. "Ok! Get the spider off of me. Now." She smiled and took it away. Dimitri shook his head at her, but Yeva watched with amazement.

"Compulsion can be used for bad things too. I think Rose's idea is actually quite plausible." I eyed the guardian. _Plausible._ I suddenly noticed Oksana staring intently at Olena. Mark watched anxiously.

"She's delving into her head," he told me, and I shuddered. I hadn't liked it when she did it to me." Olena pulled back and sighed.

"There's definitely compulsion in there. You were right, Rose," she answered all of us. I met Dimitri's eyes briefly. Now we just had to get it out.

**Thanks for reading. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks for the support guys!**

**Disclaimer: all the usual, blah blah, thanks to Richelle Mead, i don't own this...yeah, you get the idea.**

We sat and brainstormed for a minute. I was actually quite pleased at how fast we were working. I'd expected this to take ages.

"We could compel it out, I guess," Lissa suggested.

"Compel it out?" someone asked.

"Yeah. If someone compelled it in, surely we could compel it out again?"

"What are you waiting for then?" I told her.

"I don't think it will be that easy, Rose." Good point. We couldn't just tell the disease to go away. Lissa murmured something I didn't catch to Olena before staring intently into her eyes. Olena's chocolate eyes glazed over and everybody else watched uncomfortably. Compulsion was still a controversial topic in the Moroi culture, even though Lissa encouraged the use of magic as Queen. Lissa was still going and I wondered what was going on. Oksana looked at her, puzzled.

"Your Highness, please may I try?" she wondered. Lissa was so tired that she didn't chastise her title, she just leaned back and collapsed to her knees. I was there immediately to help her up. Lissa had never liked being called Princess or Vasilisa, so Your Highness was definitely unwanted. However, the Moroi still found it difficult to address her as simply Lissa. Oksana looked like she was concentrating very hard and I would've given anything to still have the bond and see her aura. Lissa looked shocked.

"What's she doing?" I hissed.

"I...I don't know. This is, this is weird," she stammered.

"Is she delving into her head again?"

"No. It's like she's connecting with it. Not reading it like I can, or healing it or anything. It's like they have the same mind!" Mark's face was priceless. He was blinking furiously and his face had contorted weirdly. I hoped he wasn't having a heart attack. His breathing soon returned to normal, but he barely managed to gasp out his response.

"So...much...spirit. There are...so many...thoughts. It's too much...too much to cope with," he choked out. Sonya quickly went to help him and Lissa shot him a concerned look as she regained her strength. I realised that it had been a while since she'd had a feeding, and Oksana's private connection with Olena was exactly that: Private. Nothing was happening here, so I spoke to Viktoria,

"Where do they keep the feeders around here?"

"Oh," she replied. "This is mainly a dhampir community. And when the Moroi come, well, they get their blood from other sources." I shivered involuntarily. The Belikova's and their friends may not be quite like that, but I'd definitely met quite a few people that met the description of _Blood whore_ last time I was over here.

"So, do they not have feeders at all?"

"Well, you might find some nearby...I don't need them, so I have no idea. The only people that might know would be Mark and Oksana..." She trailed off as she gestured towards them, needing no more explanation. Oksana was pretty much away in somebody else's head, which was getting a bit creepy, and Mark looked like he was about to topple over from ll the thoughts in his head. I felt for him. It must be hell to go through having 3 people's thoughts in your mind at once. I dragged Lissa upstairs to our room and brushed my hair back over my shoulder. I leant my neck towards her and she took a deep breath. I knew it looked appealing to her.

"Rose...I can't."

"Yes. You can. It's okay."

"I don't want to." Okay. That was weird.

"Why not?"

"I don't want to lower you to that. You know people say you're the world's best guardian. Do you think people want to know that you're giving blood?"

"Oh, Lissa. Do you think I care about that? There are no feeders around here. I don't mind. Maybe we should get you a personal feeder for next time, though." She grimaced at my joke. Having a drugged up human stumbling along behind us would be annoying.

"What are we going to do about feeding Christian?"

"He can starve for all I care." She shook her head at me with a small smile and lowered those up-curved lips to my neck. I felt her fangs bite into me and the rush of endorphins before somebody slammed open the door.

**Uh-oh! Who's it going to be? **


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry it's been so long. I've been really busy with IT Coursework, other stories and BBAMBA (Ben Barnes and Matt Bellamy Addiction). Here's the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: all the usual, blah blah, thanks to Richelle Mead, I don't own this...yeah, you get the idea.**

"Don't you have better things to be doing?" the mysterious person asked. We sprang apart and the endorphins disappeared with shock. I jumped up into a defensive position, but I needn't have worried. Yeva Belikova stood with her hands on her hips and her lips in an angry line. I relaxed my position.

"She has to feed you know," I told her defiantly.

"She's the Queen. Didn't you bring feeders?" Um...

"No?" It came out as a question.

"There are some down the road."

"Well, why did nobody tell me that?" I exclaimed. I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry, Rose," Lissa murmured. "I'm fine now, honestly."

"But you didn't have much."

"It's okay. I'll be fine for now." Yeva cleared her throat and I turned back to the creepy old woman.

"What do you want?"

"You don't have long to save her," she informed me. No doubt by _her_ she meant Olena.

"I know that. Thanks for telling me _again_."

"It's a countdown, you know. The compulsion is like a bomb in her brain. It will go off in a couple of days." It took me a while to process this.

"A couple of days! We don't have a couple of days! What are we going to do?"

"I thought _you_ were the all-knowing guardian."

"You know, for an old lady, you are way too much of a smartass." She was starting to remind me of Christian. "Besides, I thought you were the psychic." She shot me evils that were almost comical, except for the fact that shivers were running down my spine.

"You need to do something. They're all counting on you." Oh. Great. As per usual, everyone expected me to do something great. I'm a fighter, not a magician. She was just turning away, when she remembered something else, "Oh, and, your friend is here." With that, she turned on her heel and went downstairs. What the hell? What friend? I glanced at Lissa and she shrugged.

We headed down the stairs and went to the living room. Oksana was still caught up with Olena but Mark was now clutching a cup of water. Not much else had changed except for Sydney's face. She looked like she was in a daze. I think she noticed me frowning at her, because she wipe it away and attempted to smile at me. _I can see through you_. I followed her gaze to where the new member of our group was standing.

His piercing green eyes stared me down and his tousled bronze hair wasn't quite as perfect as it usually was. He had his arms crossed over his leanly muscled chest and the handsome contours of his face were hard. I gasped. Adrian Ivashkov.

**Haha, sorry it's short but I'm evil and like leaving stories on cliffhangers.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Okay, thanks for the support guys! You've probably heard that Richelle Mead might possibly release a story about Rose and Dimitri visiting his family! The post is on her blog! I'm so excited! It'll probably be much better than this, but I can't wait!**

"A-Adrian?" I stammered out. He stared back at me, eyes hard.

"Rose," he said simply. I wondered why I was cowering under his gaze.

"What are you doing here?"

"I had...things to do. None of your business. I came _here_ because there was so much spirit radiating from the house. What the hell is going on?"

"Dimitri's mother. She's kind of ill with a compulsion disease that we can't get rid of."

"Just compel it out."

"We've _tried_." I gestured to Oksana, Mark and Olena and he shrugged.

"I guess you're obviously doing something wrong." I felt my normal self bubble up.

"Well if you're so clever, why don't you do something about it?"

"What do you expect me to do? Get caught up in _that_ mess?"

"Well, you could at least try to help."

"Why should I? Why should I help _his_ mother?" Lissa flinched at his harsh tone, but Dimitri stayed stoic as ever. I knew, however, that it affected him much more than we realised.

"Fine then. Don't. We don't need you anyway."

"Good."

"_Good._"

"Fine."

"_Fine._"

"Good bye."

"Good bye!" I yelled. I was about to shove him out of the door, when Sydney shouted,

"No!" I turned back to her, eyes wide.

"He has no use here."

"Oh, thanks Rose," Adrian remarked dryly.

"He does. He can help with...something...spirity," Sydney fumbled for a lame excuse. I caught Lissa's eye and we both raised our eyebrows, sensing the lie immediately.

"Are you sure it's not because you fancy him?" I wondered.

"I do not!"

"I can tell. You do."

"I don't! I just don't really understand what's going on?"

"Sydney!" Adrian gasped. "Why don't you defend our love?"

"I knew it!" I shouted. Everybody around us was shocked. I heard the murmurs rustle through the guardians.

"Adrian Ivashkov and an _Alchemist_?" they whispered. Turns out guardians _aren't_ all stoic and sensible.

"Adrian," she hissed. "What are you doing?"

"People may as well know soon enough," he told her with a loving smile on his face. I'd seen something similar before. It was a mixture between Adrian's casual grin for me and Dimitri's beautiful smile. They were _so_ in love. I should've sensed it earlier.

"Well, isn't this going to be interesting," I mused. They all turned to me. "What?"

"You aren't going to say anything about it," one of Adrian's guards muttered from an armchair. Because the room was absolutely bursting with guardians, they weren't all needed at the moment.

"I wasn't going to. Jeez." Adrian reached for Sydney's hand and she took it, shock still plastered all over her face. "Adrian...I'm happy for you." He looked down at me and snorted.

"Happy for me?"

"Yeah. That you found Sydney. I can tell that she's the one for you." Lissa nodded.

"Your aura's are like the sun!" she explained. Adrian grinned but it fell when he turned to me.

"Why would you be happy for _me_? You cheated on me!" he almost yelled. I felt my eyebrows knit together as everybody apart from Dimitri, Adrian and I took in a sharp breath.

"Dimka?" a frail voice called from the sofa. "Would you like to explain this?"


	12. Chapter 13

Dimitri, his mouth and eyes making 'O's, turned towards his mother.

"Well, Mama, it's kind of hard to explain," he began.

"No it's not," Adrian snapped.

"I don't want to-"

"Tell your precious mother how disgusting you are?"

"No, I was _going_ to say-"

"That you believe that you're an idiot?"

"No! I was talking about-"

"How I hate you so, _so _much because you stole the girl of my dreams even after you were a frikkin' Strigoi and-"

"Oh for Christ's sake!" I yelled, standing in between them with my hand on Adrian's chest. "You: shut the hell up and pay attention to your girlfriend. You:" I pointed at Dimitri, "Tell your mother what happened. _Without_ the gory details." He grimaced and turned back to her whilst Adrian shot Sydney an apologetic look. She raised an eyebrow at him and turned away. Adrian looked like someone had stolen his cookie jar.

"Well, after I turned Strigoi," Dimitri began telling the tale, "Roza came to save me, as you know."

"We know," Yeva moaned. "She never stopped eating."

"Hey!" I called and Lissa grinned.

"Well, she got the money to do this from Adrian, with a promise that, if he gave her the money, she would go out withhim," Dimitri almost choked over his words, "when she got back. And that's what she did. And, when I was restored, well...nothing happened." His family were wearing confused expressions. "But, when we escaped Court, we just, well, I..." I noticed that Adrian and Sydney were no longer in the room. "We just fell in love again."

"Oh, Dimka..." Olena sighed and pulled him into her arms.

"Mama, it's okay. But how are you feeling?

"So," she coughed, "much...better."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes...need...water."

"Oh." I hurried into the kitchen and filled three glasses; one for Olena, Mark and Oksana. I came back and handed one to each of them. Olena glugged it down gratefully.

"Thanks, Roza, dear," she murmured.

"What happened?" Lissa wondered. "Your auras were going wild!"

"Well," Olena explained. "I delved into Olena's head but the compulsion in there kind of drew me in. It's difficult to explain..."

**Okay, please leave your feedback and make my day. **


	13. Chapter 14

"Basically," Oksana continued **(AN, that was who I meant before)**, "in Olena's head I could sense so much compulsion. It was as if somebody had just shoved the entire of their powers in there. Our minds kind of connected. You'd probably see it as an invasion of privacy...which it kind of is...but the compulsion drew me in. I managed to draw a little bit out, but we'll need more help." We stared.

"I can help," Lissa piped up.

"Your Majesty..." some of the guardians warned, but she brushed them off.

"And we can get Adrian to help too." The rest of us froze. "What? Rose, don't tell me he still won't help you. He'll come around and..." I shook my head miserably. "At least try?"

"Okay, fine," I huffed. "But only for Olena." I trudged upstairs to one of the spare bedrooms. I heard them inside. I creaked open the door a bit and Sydney was leaning against Adrian's chest with her eyes closed and his arms around her. I sighed softly and he turned.

"What do you want, Rose?" he asked me. I was surprised at the iciness in his voice but knew I deserved it.

"To talk to you," I told him simply. Sydney stood up and awkwardly smoothed her skirt before stepping out. She respected our privacy.

"What is there to say? We've already been through this, Rose." There it was again. _Rose_. Not little dhampir or any kind of weird nickname he may have for me. I felt my face fall automatically.

"Adrian, look, I'm sorry, okay? I'm so, _so_ sorry. If I could go back and change it, I would. But...I just-"

"Spit it out, Rose." He crossed his arms.

"I need you." He sat up higher. "I need your help. To heal Olena." He sank down then, realising my words, shot back up.

"You want _me_ to heal _his_ mother? Are you _insane_?" I flinched as his voice rose. "You ruined my life with him and you expect me to help him?"

"For me?"

"Why should I?" he spat. "What good would it do me?"

"Look, Adrian, I'd have thought that, now that you've found Sydney, the so called 'love of your life', that you would've gotten over this. Maybe you'd be nice and help me, possibly try forgiving me. Because, you know what, I _do_ want to be your friend. Yes, I let you down. But Sydney's there for you. That's what love means. Surely you know by now that I'm not the one for you?" He just stared at me and I knew that if putting Sydney hadn't worked, I was done for.

"You're right," he whispered so low that I barely caught it. "You're right. I will help her. Rose, I'm sorry for being like this. I just felt betrayed, you know."

"I know. Adrian, I'm sorry." I drew him in for a hug and we grinned at each other before heading back downstairs.

"Okay," Lissa called. "Everybody ready." Olena stared into Oksana's eyes and they glazed over as...

**Mark POV (ikr)**

_Don't worry, I'll be fine,_ Oksana sent through the bond, but I couldn't help myself. It was bad enough just the three of us joined, let alone everyone else. I didn't know whether I felt jealous of or glad for Rose that she was no longer bonded. Oksana held Olena's eyes in her gaze and I felt the compulsion make its way into her brain. I fell into Oksana's head helplessly and felt everything as her mind connected with Olena's.

_Everything okay in there?_ Oksana asked.

_Erm...kind of..._ Olena barely thought out.

_We need to wait for the others._ I soon felt the presence of another spirit user.

_Adrian may be a while,_ Vasilisa told us. _He's struggling to get it to work._

_It's just basic spirit..._

_Thanks for that, Liss,_ Adrian's snarky voice thought. _I'm perfectly capable._ Lissa mentally giggled.

_Mark, are you ready?_ I didn't know why she asked. I was completely incapable of answering in any way, so she took my silence as a yes. _Here goes..._

With her mind, Oksana sought out the ball of compulsion at the back. In her mind she formed it into a pulsing, glowing orb of golden light. I had no idea what it actually looked like. Probably not much.

_You see that?_ She asked the others.

_What is it?_

_It's the compulsion. We need to draw it out._ Oksana started. She clenched her muscles and focused all her senses on drawing out as much as she could of that compulsion ball. I could feel the sweat running down her cheeks and she gritted her teeth. She'd pulled away about an eight when she swayed and had to grip the sofa. Vasilisa didn't manage much more, and Adrian was pretty pathetic.

_It's not going to work!_ Vasilisa moaned.

_Of course it's going to work!_ Oksana snapped a little too harshly. _We need to be strong. Like he dhampirs. Keep going, come on._ She drew out a little bit more this time and barely restrained herself from falling backwards. Vasilisa pulled just a bit more and so did Adrian. There was still half a ball left.

_Together._

They clenched their jaws and squeezed their eyes shut. The strain was getting to be too much. They pulled and pulled and-

I fell out of Oksana's head. Gasping for air, I collapsed backwards, watching helplessly as the three spirit users fell to the ground. The Belikova's rushed out and brought us all some more water. I gulped mine down eagerly and still felt woozy. I really needed a spirit ring for that darkness...

**RPOV**

I was so proud of Lissa. I held her still and stroked her hair as she panted and drank her water down in a few less-than-delicate gulps. She glanced at Olena anxiously, but she was snoring lightly on the sofa. We both sighed in relief and I shot Dimitri a happy look. He smiled back and then looked out of the window.

"Definitely time for some sleep," he stated. "It's been a long day, and I bet you guys are all tired from spirit and stuff." We all nodded and trudged upstairs.

"You go first," Polina offered. I gave her a grateful smiled and fell into a deep dreamless sleep. Several hours later, she woke me up and I took my position outside her door. The guardian outside Christian's room was looking desperately weary and I wondered what sort of shift he had arranged with Dimitri. The Dimitri I knew would be taking extra shifts, not sleeping in. I shrugged and leaned sleepily against the doorpost until I heard odd noises coming from the room. Christian poked out his head.

"Rose?" he wondered. "Could you come here quickly?" Tomas nodded at me from across the room so I knew he would watch Lissa's room for a bit as I crept into Christian's room. Christian himself left the room and I wondered what could possibly be up with Dimitri.


	14. Chapter 15

**Aha, today I was spraying my art work with glue, and my teacher put some newspaper underneath and sprayed over it. But the newspaper had Ben Barnes on it! As soon as he wasn't looking, I stole the newspaper and put it in my logbook, forgetting it was all sticky. So now, unfortunately (or not, depending on the way you look at it) his picture is stuck in the front of my logbook! LOL. **

**Here's chapter 14.**

The room was silent and pitch black.

"Comrade," I whispered. "Are you okay in here?" All I got in return was the echo of a sob. "Dimitri? It's Rose. Is everything okay?"

"No," he moaned. I followed his voice through the darkness until I came into contact with a bed. I fumbled for a light switch and flicked on the bedside lamp. The light glowed and illuminated Dimitri's tear streaked face. I gasped and he looked down.

"Dimitri? What happened? Why are you crying?"

"No, Roza, go. I can't talk to you." His response was muffled, as he'd put his hands over his face. I put my arm around his shoulders.

"You can tell me. Don't worry. I just want to know you're okay."

"I...can't. Roza, I can't speak to...you." I was shocked.

"Why...why not?"

"I just can't. Oh, God, Roza." And with that, he wept into his hands. I shook my head. What was the matter?

"Please, Dimitri. Please tell me. I want to help you."

"I thought...I thought you were dead." _?_

"What?"

"I thought you were dead. When Tasha shot you. I thought she'd killed you. You can't imagine...you can't imagine what I thought then." I avoided telling him that I _could_ imagine, as it had happened to me. It wasn't going to help. "I know what you're thinking."

"Of course," I murmured. He always did.

"It wasn't just that you were dead. It was that I had killed you."

"_What?_ Dimitri, that's absurd!" I lowered my voice again, aware that it had been too loud for this early in the morning. "You didn't kill me, remember?"

"No, it doesn't really have anything to do with Strigoi. It was all me. If Tasha hadn't...if Tasha hadn't felt that way about me, she wouldn't have been jealous. She wouldn't have framed and you tried to...tried to..." He broke off and cried into his hands as I stared. I'd never seen him so low. Not even after Donovan. I rubbed circles in his back and tried to be soothing.

"Dimitri, it's not your fault. I promise you. It doesn't have anything to do with you."

"It does. It _does_. I almost killed you, Roza. I wasted all my time and then you almost died because of _me_!" I put two fingers under his chin and pulled his face up so that my eyes were level with his watery ones.

"Dimitri Belikov, you listen here. My almost-death is _not_ your fault, you hear me? Not at all. It was just that stupid Tasha, trying to get me out of the way. It's her fault, not yours. Nobody is blaming you. _Nobody_. So, you, pick yourself up and stop moping around, because it's not your fault." I pressed my lips to his cheeks. His tears were salty. He gave me a weak smile and I rewarded him with a warning glance.

"Oh, Roza, what would I do without you?" he wondered.

"Nothing. You'd be a mess." I grinned.

"Probably." I brushed my lips against his but he seemed to want more contact. His arms came around my back and pressed me to his chest. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back passionately. We couldn't go very far in his mother's house, but the contact was nice all the same. He stood up, both of us still connected, and I wrapped my legs around his torso, clinging to him like a koala. I felt him smiled against my lips before picking back up, pushing my against the wall with his hands either side of my head. I opened my eyes into liquid brown and-

The door swung open. _Jesus_, I thought. _Why do people keep interrupting us?_ _First Yeva and now-_ Viktoria stood at the door. Dimitri pulled back immediately, a light brush spreading across his gorgeous face.

"Oh," she muttered. "I can come back, you know." I shook my head, disentangling myself from Dimitri before straightening my shirt and flashing him a saucy grin. He gave me a stern look that I'd often seen at St. Vlad's.

"No, we're fine," he told her. "What do need?"


	15. Chapter 16

I followed Viktoria down the stairs, wondering what she had planned. I'd had to leave Dimitri behind, and he got to work with his shift, and got another guardian to cover mine. When I reached the living room, Sonya, Karolina, Sydney and Lissa were all communed around the small coffee table. I frowned.

"What the hell is going on in here?" I asked Viktoria.

"We're planning an ambush," she explained, giving me an evil grin.

"Is that safe?" She raised and eyebrow and it reminded me so much of Dimitri.

"Since when have you cared whether things are safe, Rose?" Lissa blurted.

"Since I became the 2nd-to-last Dragomir, also known as the Royal Moroi Queen, and my best friend's guardian." She hung her head.

"It'll be fine, Rose," Sonya told me. As the oldest girl, I trusted her more on this. "We're not going to harm them or anything. It's just a stupid prank." I nodded slowly.

"Okay...what are we going to do?" Viktoria told me and I gasped before bursting into laughter. "You're kidding, right?"

"Nope. Dimitri hates it when we dirty his duster. He's gonna be soooo mad!" Viktoria giggled.

"So the plan is, destroy his duster? Nothing more?"

"Do we need anything more?"

"Do you know where he gets those dusters?" She shook her head. "Well he gets them damn fast. He even managed to get on whilst on flippin' house arrest, for crying out loud!" Their faces fell, except for Karolina's.

"It's not just Dimitri we're pranking though. We can do all sorts of stuff..." she spilled the info and I cackled like a witch. Everyone turned to me but I brushed it off. It's not my fault. When I'm excited I go a bit crazy. And then we got down to business. Viktoria was in charge of taping up pictures of Dimitri when he was younger all over the house. We'd flipped through the stash eagerly. Typical Momsy pictures of the kids in a bath as babies, dressed as a cowboy, married to the infamous Barbies. Lissa was probably trashing Christian's room or something. Sydney shocked me. She made a prank call pretending to be 'Adrian's secret mistress' and left a saucy message on his phone. It was something along the lines of, in a sickly sweet purr,

"Hey, Adrian...remember me? I miss you baby, I miss the way you stroke me. I miss your touch. Will you come back to me, babe? I bet there's a lot of things we can do together." And much much worse. By the end of it we were all either hysterical or suffering from shock. The worst thing I'd heard her say before was 'damn'. She flushed when we told her. Sonya and Karolina sabotaged the house and warned Olena and Yeva before grabbing the female guardians and getting them in on it. That left me to destroy the duster. I was walking towards where it was laying when I heard somebody shift. I whirled around, but there was nobody there. Shaking my head, I focused on the task ahead.

It hung up on the peg, its leathery-ness smelling of his natural scent mingled with the aftershave. I felt a sudden pang of regret. Did I really want to destroy one of his prized possessions? Stupid question. Of course I did. He could always get another one. Knowing Dimitri he probably figured how to make them himself. I pulled it off and made sure only belongings/keys etc were out. There was a little note in the front pocket.

_Comrade,_

_I love you!_

_Rose_

_Xxxx_

I laughed. I remembered writing it some time before this all happened. I put it with his keys before attempting to rip the duster in half. Jesus, this leather was a bitch! I grabbed a pair of scissors from the kitchen and made little cuts all around the edges and then ripped form there. I could've just cut it up, but I wanted the pleasure of ripping it. I didn't know why. It just overcame me. I tore the leather. And then again. And then again. And then I piled it on the floor outside and lit it. It felt good.

CPOV

"Okay...what are we going to do?" I heard Rose ask from the living room, and then there were hushed whispers and giggles. I peered around the wall and saw all the girls communed on the living room floor. A thought hit me at once. _They're going to ambush us!_ I was about to dart up the stairs, when I decided to stay and listen. "You're kidding, right?"

"Nope. Dimitri hates it when we dirty his duster. He's gonna be soooo mad!" Viktoria giggled. They're gonna dirty the duster? Do they have a death wish?

"So the plan is, destroy his duster? Nothing more?"

"Do we need anything more?"

"Do you know where he gets those dusters?" Viktoria shook her head. "Well he gets them damn fast. He even managed to get on whilst on flippin' house arrest, for crying out loud!" Their faces fell, except for Karolina's.

"It's not just Dimitri we're pranking though. We can do all sorts of stuff..." she spilled the info and Rose cackled like a witch. I had to muffle a laugh. _Seriously, Rose?_ Everyone towards her but she brushed it off. And then they got down to business. Viktoria reached for something on the table and I saw Lissa heading for the stairs. Sydney shocked me. She made a prank call pretending to be 'Adrian's secret mistress' and left a saucy message on his phone. It was something along the lines of, in a sickly sweet purr,

"Hey, Adrian...remember me? I miss you baby, I miss the way you stroke me. I miss your touch. Will you come back to me, babe? I bet there's a lot of things we can do together." And much much worse. I stifled yet another laugh. An Alchemist? Wow. Karolina and Sonya also snuck up the stairs, leaving Rose alone, cackling to herself like some mad old lady. I hoped for everyone else's sake that she wasn't turning into Yeva. She was walking towards where the duster was laying when I realised that she would be able to see me. I sprinted up the stairs and then peered down from the top, breathless. She shook her head and walked off.

I flung open the door and woke up the guardians before forcing us all to commune in my room. They all gasped as I told them the story.

"There's more of them than us," I told them.

"And Rose is lethal," one of the guardians murmured.

"Not just Rose," I heard Dimitri mutter and I wondered what his sisters were like. I knew that Viktoria had a sneaky spark.

"What do we do?"

"We could...trash their rooms?" I mused. They shook their heads.

"Too unoriginal," Tomas stated and we all agreed.

"We destroy them," somebody growled. Umm... "I mean, we crash their next meeting. Listen in and pretend we're oblivious. Then, when they meet, we tackle them. We're men. We show them who's boss." Dimitri had a weird look on his face and I wondered what his idea of showing somebody who's boss was? Probably some creepy Russian torture...

We separated and took up listening positions throughout the house, when suddenly, my nose wrinkled up.

"What is that _smell?_" Being the only Moroi except Adrian-who was pretty useless- I was the only one that could smell it, but the guardians soon came to their senses.

"It smells like burning," somebody told me.

"Christian? Are you doing fire magic in the house? That's not very sensible, you know," Dimitri called, walking into my room. I shook my head and ran to the window, opening it in the hopes of getting air but instead being suffocated. I peered through the smoke and saw a small fire in the back garden. Rose was standing by, grinning like a psycho. I wondered if she was going to campfire dance. Dimitri's eyes widened and then he glanced down at himself. He swore in Russian and I realised what was missing from his whirl as he sprinted in. He leapt down the stairs and I followed him down into the garden. Coughing, we stalked towards the pile. Rose had disappeared. Dimitri looked the angriest guy in the world.

"My duster!" he roared. Oh shit. "O chertovski derʹmovoĭ ad! yebut yebut yebut!"

"Language, Dimka!" Olena called from the doorway, shaking her head.

"But, Mama, my duster! Look!" Olena poked at the burnt leather, which was really started to smell, and disguised a laugh in a cough. Dimitri's face automatically softened. "Are you okay? Does it still hurt?" She shook her head.

"I'm okay, Dimka." Then she winked. I was shocked. Was she winking at _me? Why?_ And then I turned to see Rose behind me, smiling. I leapt at her and attempted to tackle her to the floor but she sprinted whilst I was mid-air, leaving me crashing to the ground. Dimitri helped me up.

"Don't worry," I told him. "We'll get them." He nodded.

"We'd better."

RPOV

With one last longing glance at the duster, Dimitri and Christian headed back in. I grinned again. Silence _1...2...3_ Somebody roared wildly, and then a very anfry Russian was storming towards my room.

"Oh, Rose, you didn't," he yelled. Ouch.

"I didn't. You're right."

"Who did?"

"I will not betray the pact."

"'_The pact?_'" I nodded and he sighed before running a hand through his hair. "I'm being serious, Rose." Again with the Rose.

"So am I. You needed a new one anyway." Understanding lit his features and just as is hands reached out to grab me, I flung myself out the window. He gasped and I watched as he raced to the window, just to see me land on his spare duster that I'd found hidden in his room. He growled.

"You are going to pay. So bad. I'm going to show you who's boss." I smirked. I wondered what his code for 'showing me who's boss' was. It sounded rather fun. The girls and I headed out the house and sat in the middle of the road in a circle as we waited patiently for the boys to finish enjoying themselves. I heard a lot of swearing, mainly in Russian, and called out,

"Comrade! You always tell me off for swearing, but you're so much worse! Do you remember when we were in bed a few nights ago? You were pretty out of control then and I think you may've just written the Russian Swearing Dictionary. We should tell to your mother." Who was currently staring in shock at a very angry dude coming out of the house, tiny pieces of coloured paper with his face all over them in his fists.

"Rose, you are so going to be thrashed. Remember that. I will catch up to you. And when I do..." He left the threat open and I shivered.

The girls and I picknicked and chatted for a while and we soon found the lights going down. The other guardians and I sorted out some shifts and we took places around the garden when, suddenly, the door burst open. The boys piled out and launched themselves at us. I suddenly found myself tackling a garden who I quickly incapacitated and dumped him on the ground. _Teaches you for messing with Rose Hathaway_. I just had enough time to catch a glimpse of Adrian hauling Lissa back to 'base' where Christian was waiting, warding anyone off with fire magic.

"Compel him!" I yelled to her, desperately hoping that she heard me. "Comp-" I was cut off by a nice-smelling hand covering my mouth.

"Quiet now, Roza. We don't want you crying out like you did a few nights ago, do we? I think you may've alerted the whole court about our relationship. Oops." _Karma's a bitch._ I glared and then licked his hand. He squirmed, keeping his hand there. Ok then. I bit down on a finger and he yanked it back, swearing, for once, in English. HAHAHAHAHA. He came at me again, flipping me over his shoulders. I pounded my fists on his back as he squeezed my ass. "Like this, wasn't it, Roza? Or was it more than that? Am I not as sweet and innocent as my family thought I was? Oh wait, they already knew that, _because you told them._" I squealed as he deliberately lost his grip. The ground came rushing towards me and then his hands clamped around my feet. Because he was so tall, I was still a foot or so away from the ground, but he lowered his hands until my hair was brushing the floor. I wondered if he was going to bash my head against the ground, but realised he wouldn't be stupid enough to do that. This was fun, not death. I suddenly felt my arms being grasp in an iron-grip and realised I'd been handcuffed. I shrieked. Another guardian was holding me in place, and the two of them were swinging me from side-to-side, making suggestions like, "shall we make a barbecue out of her?" or "Belikov, you could use these for something else," with a suggestive eyebrow wiggle that I _really_ didn't like. That did it. I snapped, tossing around and wiggling crazily. The guardians were losing their grip and they almost dropped me. I screamed again, but all the others were at 'base'. Except Lissa. I suddenly found myself being lowered to the ground and realised she was smooth talking. Compulsion.

"Stay still," she murmured softly. "Don't move." She nodded to me, my cue, and I scrambled up, jumping behind the first guardian and bashing my fists on his head. He cried out and fell to the floor, out cold. I bashed him again for good measure, hoping the bruise wouldn't be too big. Then it was Dimitri. I stroked his face knowing I didn't want to ruin it, and then stalked around the outside of him like a predator circling it's prey. Dimitri was technically out of the compulsion. He knew what I was doing, and _damn_ he looked afraid, but he was bound to the floor by some sort of magic. I wondered what this was doing to Lissa. Some of the other guardians came to help him, so I ran up and locked my arms around his head. His eyes bugged out.

"Sorry, Comrade," I murmured, and he collapsed to the floor. I fought my way, alone, through some of the other male guardians when I saw Mark clutching his stomach. At first I thought he was trying to get out of the game-i.e. being thrashed by me-but then I recognised it.

"What's going on?" everyone asked. He shook his head but I understood everything.

"Stri-"

"Rose!" someone called. I whipped around to find myself staring into a pair of red-ringed eyes.

**Ooh, all the guardians are out cold. What do we do? Hehe **


	16. Chapter 17

**Guys, I am SO sorry. Honestly, I am. I left a little AN because I had to do research and FanFiction was distracting me. Then, because all I'd done was revision, I had homework to catch up on. Then it was my birthday, so my Dad gave me some updates for my computer so I didn't have it for a week. And then my Mum lost our internet passcode so I haven't actually been able to go on much since mid-June. Thanks so much for your patience. I honestly didn't mean to leave it this long (especially with the cliff hanger).**

**So here's the chapter you (may or may not) have been waiting for:**

Shit. In a flash, my mind analysed our positions. Most of the male guardians were out cold on the floor. Lissa was standing in the middle of the garden completely unprotected. And me? I was staring into the face of a Strigoi. Handcuffed. I repeat: Shit.

I didn't want to shout Lissa's name, for some reason to do with letting out information, so in my mind I yelled

_Lissa! Duck down! Hide your face and get inside!_ In my peripheral vision, I saw her nod and then I turned my attention to the Strigoi. I whacked him across the face and he yelled out. I locked my arms around his neck, just like I'd been doing with the guardians and he cried out. Silver! The handcuffs were made of silver and charmed with the elements! Clever! I rammed them into him, attempting to strangle him until he went out cold. Then I rummaged through Dimitri's pockets, found the key to unlock my handcuffs, stabbed the Strigoi and woke up Dimitri. His eyes widened.

"Is that all of them?" I wondered aloud. I couldn't see anymore.

"No..." he murmured softly, and then we were ambushed. I shrieked, attacking two of them, barely noticing the bright light in the corner.

**ChristianPOV**

"Quick, Christian!" Lissa hissed, and tossed me a set of keys. Sonya-my 'guard'- fumbled with the lock and let me go. Then the female guardians went to join Rose and Dimitri. The Belikovas backed up in a semi circle, pressing Lissa, Olena, Oksana, Yeva, Adrian, Sydney and I back towards the safety of the house. Mark was bravely trying to defend us against any Strigoi getting thorough our main barricades. There were dozens of them. I was preparing to put up a fireball in my hands to defend Lissa, but I turned and she wasn't there. _Where the hell are you, Liss?_ Of course, I wasn't getting a reply. I looked around and-oh shit.

**LissaPOV**

_What can I do? What can I do?_ The male guardians were all out cold around us. They were Strigoi targets and could also be useful in helping Rose and Dimitri, who were looking battered and exhausted already. I crept past the Belikovas and inched towards the first guardian. I pulled in the magic, hoping to get him conscious, when a ring of light went up around me. I glanced up into Christian's anxious eyes, trying not to get distracted by how amazing he looked backed by the fire. I smiled at his protective circle and we set about scanning the grass for guardians to heal, only breaking the circle to let them out. I could help, and I was going to do everything in my power to.

**SydneyPOV**

I stared in shock at the battlefield unfolding before me. I'd been startled when Rose and Dimitri had fought just three, but fighting a whole army? I was aghast. Not to mention how much cleaning up this would need. The barrier of Belikovas in front of me were now fighting their own enemies. I shivered, hoping they didn't get through.

**RosePOV**

I finished off my 7th Strigoi, but they were relentless and I found myself with another enemy. Then, suddenly, there was a scream from behind me. I whipped my head around and saw-well, I don't know what. Then the Strigoi took advantage of my distraction and shoved me into Dimitri. We tumbled like dominoes and the Strigoi leapt towards the Moroi. I shrieked, but there was nothing I could do.

**AdrianPOV**

The Strigoi reached out and bit into Sydney's neck. She shrieked at exactly the same time I yelled. I leapt at the Strigoi, tugging helplessly on his arm. He cuckled and let Sydney go (thank God) and turned to me instead. I yelped and turned desperately to spirit. Not even thinking about it, I pulled and pulled until a barrier of shining golden light appeared between us. The Strigoi rammed into it but bounced back off. Angrily, he tried again and again as I began to build a wall around the entire semi-circle. Then a small ball of the same golden light appeared in my hands. I twisted my hands and pulled on it. It felt like plasticene, and I formed it into a large shape. Then, using all my might, I flung it at the Strigoi. I gasped as he burst into flames and began to build another when, suddenly, I collapsed.

**SPOV**

The golden walls fell away as Adrian collapsed and the Strigoi burst through. I saw Rose finish with her Strigoi and come running, but she was too late. I screamed as the Strigoi snapped Adrian's neck and turned on the rest of us. This was the end.


	17. Chapter 18

**RPOV**

A cry of pure anguish ripped it's way through the air and I shrieked as I saw the Strigoi snap Adrian's neck. Sydney flung herself at Adrian, throwing Alchemist stuff at the Strigoi. Bad move. He was coming for her. I leapt at the Strigoi and stabbed my stake in it's back, over and over again until Dimitri gently pulled me off him and then wrapped his arms around me. I sobbed into his shoulder, crying my eyes out for Adrian who'd done everything possible to protect the others when we couldn't.

**SPOV**

No. This couldn't be happening. No way. Yet it was all there. All the blood, pouring there. Adrian had none of his normal charm. There was no soul in him at all. He was dead. I cried out manically and Lissa came running.

"Please," she said softly but quickly, "let go."

"I can't!" I sobbed.

"You have to. You have to let me help him." And then she placed her hands over him and began working her magic. The gold spread from her hands, glowing and pulsing, covering Adrian. I pulled back, gasping as she squeezed her eyes shut, obviously having some sort of connection with him. Her magic sparkled and glinted and then burst out in a powerful blast. I felt like it would be imprinted on my retinas forever. Once I'd blinked away the spots, nothing much had happened. My face fell. And then, the miracle happened...

**AllPOV**

He sat up.

**AdrianPOV**

I coughed weakly and looked around at all the astonished faces.

"What?" I asked. "Why the hell are you all staring at me?" They just gaped like goldfish. And then Sydney flung her arms around me.

"Adrian!" she cried. "You're alive! You're alive! Thank you, Lissa!"

"Woah, woah, woah, what's going on? Why wouldn't I be alive?" I was met with silence.

"You...you don't remember?" Rose asked softly.

"Should I?"

"There was a Strigoi attack. Do you remember that?"

"Yeah. Yeah, it's coming back..." I squeezed my eyes shut. The red eyes, flashes of gold, Christian shooting fire, the pain. My eyes widened. "How am I still alive?"

"Me," Lissa murmured. I froze.

"Oh. Shit."

"Aren't you grateful?" Christian wondered, protective of his girlfriend.

"Well, yeah, but...this is so complicated." I shook my head and started to probe my mind. There. At the back was a mixture of feelings that definitely weren't mine. Hurt. Amazement. _Adrian. _"Huh?" _Adrian, it's me. Lissa. Can you hear me?_

_Uh, yeah, I guess. Wow, this is weird._ Lissa gasped.

"It's a two-way bond," she exclaimed. "Because we're both spirit users. The bond is both ways." And with that, I felt the strangest feeling ever, and suddenly I was looking at myself.

"So that means," I was saying, but it wasn't actually me. It was Lissa, "we can both get sucked inside each other's heads!"

_Oh great, _she thought. _I don't want to see inside Adrian's head._

_I can hear you!_ I told her and she blushed. This was going to get really weird. I scrambled to my feet and looked at the garden around me. It was seriously trashed. But, amazingly, there were no tragedies. I shook my head in disbelief and then put a hand to my forehead, trying to fix the dizziness.

**RPOV**

The Moroi went inside with the Belikova's whilst we guardians helped Sydney clean up all the mess. She sprinkled some of her Alchemist chemicals all over them with that hard-working face on, but anyone could tell she was itching to get back there and talk to Adrian. But, as always with Sydney, business came first. I went over to Dimitri and wrapped my arms around him. He buried his face in my hair.

"I'm so glad you're safe," he murmured. "I don't know what I would've done if..." He trailed off, but I knew what he would've said.

"I feel the same way," I told him. "I can't believe we all survived it! Well," I frowned, "almost."

"You're happy that Adrian's safe.

"Of course I am, Dimitri! Adrian's my friend. Aren't _you_?"

"I am, Roza. I am. I just..." I shook my head at him and smiled. He probably didn't like me crying over Adrian.

"I'm yours," I whispered. "Forever. Who knows what would happen to you if I wasn't here?" He chuckled.

"I'm sure I would've been just fine as a guardian. In fact, since you came along, I've been in more trouble than I ever had in the whole 25 years of my life." I pouted.

"You were _supposed_ to say, 'I could never live without you, Roza. My life would be a mess!" I tried doing a Russian accent but failed, and it suddenly reminded me of Christian's Dimitri impression before we came here. Dimitri and I laughed together. But, whilst we were laughing, I realised something. Dimitri had said '25 years'. I remembered the exact day he told me he was 24. Could it be...I had some investigating to do.

**Could it be? :D**


	18. The numbers are all wrong

**Oh god, guys, I am **_**so**_** sorry. I genuinely am. I didn't mean to leave it this long, I promise, but I did. I thought I'd finished it! Woops. And if you can ever forgive me, I'd be really grateful. I suppose I should try to make it up to you with the final chapter.**

**Oh and just to clear things up, I don't own the characters, they belong to Richelle Mead, so I have no idea if this information is accurate, but let's just say it is :D**

August 28th. The holidays were nearly over. We were preparing to travel back home after a couple of weeks in Baia. The past few days had been spent recuperating after the attack and trying to tie up any loose ends. Olena was well again, the spirit users having successfully removed the compulsion from her mind, and she was well on the way to becoming her usual motherly self again. Unfortunately, we still had no leads on where Spiridon and Robert had gone. It seemed so distant after the events following the Strigoi attack, but we knew that we couldn't let them get away with this crime. I'd called the Court and told them to keep a look out for them, and they'd sent a couple of guardians to Omsk and Novosibirsk to keep going; after the attack, we couldn't let any from our entourage out of our sight.

Adrian and Lissa had also been exploring the bond. Both had found it extremely frustrating when accidentally falling into each other's heads, particularly Adrian.

"It's so different to our bond," Lissa had grumbled at me one evening. "I'm not used to falling into somebody else's head."

"Think how _I _feel! Suddenly I've got a teenage girl, the _Queen_, listening in on my thoughts. Hasn't anybody heard of privacy?" he exclaimed. I had chuckled at the pair of them, assuring them that they'd figure something out in time, but I knew that I'd have to help them research when we got back to Court.

So that led up to today, when I woke up at the exceptionally early time of nine o'clock to surprise Dimitri. After asking his mother, I found out that it was definitely his birthday. I'd had to wiggle it out of her, as Dimitri had apparently ordered her not to tell anyone. The only loophole in their deal was if I found out beforehand, which, technically, I did.

I'd visited the local shops, but nothing had been very suitable, and there wasn't enough time to travel to Omsk to buy anything decent. Oksana had a selection of cards which she kept in a box for occasions like that, so she let me borrow one. I wrote a private message inside, signed it with a flourish and sealed it with a kiss. I'd bought something small from the local store, just to assure that I'd got him something, and promised myself I'd get something nice when we got back to America.

I sat on the sofa in the living room, squished between Viktoria, Olena and Sydney, despite it only being a two-seater sofa. Lissa, Christian, Sonya, Karolina and Paul were sat on the other sofa or crouched on the floor. Adrian and Sydney were still in bed. Separately, I presumed. There was a creak on the stairs and I sat up straighter, my palms suddenly clammy as I held the small present in my hand. The door cracked open and we all leapt up.

"Happy Birthday!" we yelled together and made our way to the door. Dimitri stood there, bewildered, his eyes wide and his dark hair messy with sleep. I smiled, my eyes crinkling, as his eyes found mine and I took in his adorable appearance. He smiled at me for a second and then turned his eyes accusingly to his mother.

"I told you not to tell anyone!" he told her, but I could still hear the grin in his voice. He was pleased that we'd done this for him. That was the way Dimitri worked; he sacrificed his own happiness just to make sure nobody else went out of their way. I knew that, deep down, he really appreciated this sort of surprise.

"I didn't!" Olena defended herself. "Rose figured it out by herself." He spun back around to mock glare at me and I smiled bashfully, holding out the envelope. He took it from me slowly, examining it.

"Rose, you didn't have to get me anything." I shrugged.

"I wanted to get you something," I replied simply. "Because you deserve it. And because you were going to get me something." A small smile flickered at the edges of his lips before he pressed them together. _Dammit, Rose, why did you have to bring that up? _I thought to myself, but everybody ignored it.

Dimitri slid his finger into the envelope and tugged it open gently, sliding the card out. He bit back a smile at the overly smiley person on the front of the card, the only one Olena had that was in English, and flipped it open. Glittery stars fell out of it onto the floor and Olena tutted. I sent her an apologetic glance, not having thought about the problems. My gaze quickly travelled back to Dimitri, however, as he read my card. When Christian tried to peer over his shoulder, Dimitri quickly closed the card, a secret smile on playing on his lips. He looked up at me and we both shared a private moment, the two of us thinking exactly the same thing, feeling exactly the same perfection.

I nudged him out of our mini-daydream and he fumbled in the envelope for the $10 book token I'd bought him.

"Thank you so much, Roza," he said, reaching his arms out and wrapping me up. I inhaled deeply and smiled into his chest, the scent of last night's lingering aftershave and his natural smell mingling in the air. "It's lovely."

"I'll get you something better when we get home."

"I don't need anything better when I have you." I heard Christian retch behind me and giggled as Lissa slapped him playfully, stepping back from Dimitri's arms.

The rest of the day passed smoothly. Olena cooked us a wonderful meal, Dimitri's favourite black bread included, and Mark and Oksana came to visit. Dimitri seemed to have forgotten all about his wish to keep his birthday private, which suited me fine. I was just so glad to see him cheerful. It was as if all the weight had been taken off of our shoulders for a day. We could forget about our past, forget about all the lingering questions, and enjoy ourselves.

Around 7pm that evening, a couple of us were watching a silly television program. Viktoria was supposed to be translating it for us Americans, but she decided to mix it up a bit, so we determined that the game show host was having eggs for breakfast and the two contestants, despite having never met before, were married. At least, in our minds they were. The boys were playing cards in the corner.

I heard a cough from beside me and turned to see Dimitri standing in front of me seriously. I frowned at him.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, anxious all of a sudden, remembering that I hadn't been very on guard all day. He nodded, though, and I relaxed my shoulders, still watching him warily. I felt the weight of the family's gazes on us and I shifted awkwardly under their scrutiny. Dimitri slowly sank to the floor, my eyes following him the whole way, until he was resting on one knee on the floor.

_No,_ I told myself. _It won't be that. Don't be stupid, Rose. Don't get your hopes up._

"Rose," Dimitri murmured, slowly moving a hand to his back pocket and retrieving a small black box. I felt my breath catch as he looked up at me with that earnest gaze and I read the truth in his eyes. My heart thundered as I tried to stop my voice shaking.

"Where did you get that? Isn't it time you tell me these guardian secrets of yours?" I teased, both of us chuckling as we remembered the time he'd bought me the lip gloss back at St. Vlad's.

"Well, this time I just got it from the jeweller. Nothing so special about that." Yet it _was_ special. It was so, so special. I swallowed nervously as Dimitri wobbled slightly and regained his balance.

"Roza," he began, staring deeply into my eyes until I was bathed in chocolate. _Focus_, I reminded myself. _Stop dwelling on memories when you've got this in front of you, moron!_ "Roza, I have been trying for a long time to figure out how to put this. I may not be the most eloquent of men, but I like to voice my feelings to you, and only you, when I feel it strong enough to be deemed necessary. And I have never felt anything quite as strong as this. The love I hold for you is consuming me, it's part of me now. It would be impossible to deny it now like I used to. Roza, you are my reason for existence. You give me strength. Without you, I wouldn't be here today. I wouldn't be the man I am if I hadn't met you. You changed my life and I thank you so much for that, and all I want is to love you and cherish you and worship you forever and always." I felt tears prickle in my eyes as I bit my lip, staring at Dimitri.

"Roza." He flipped open the black box and I admired the glinting ring inside. It was as I'd expected from Dimitri. Nothing big, yet worth so much. Worth more than anything in the world.

Time seemed to stop, and all I could hear was the velvety way he said my voice, my Russian . Waiting for him to ask the question. Waiting for us to bind ourselves. Just...waiting. A heartbeat away.

"Will you marry me?"

And, even though I'd been expecting it, I felt myself gasp, I felt heart swell, I felt my lips part into a smile.

"Yes," I whispered, "yes, I will marry you, Dimitri." The most exquisite smile broke out on his face, his eyes sparkling and warm as he got to his feet. I leapt up from my seat and flung my arms around him, a tear spilling over the edge of my cheekbones and trickling down to my jaw as he wrapped himself around me. Warmth emanated from him as I squeezed him tight.

"Yes," I couldn't stop repeating myself, my voice growing in strength as I continued to talk, "Yes, Guardian Belikov, Dimka, darling, yes, 100% yes. I love you so much, Dimitri. So much." Even Christian didn't interrupt as we embraced, the two of us locked in a moment that I knew I would remember forever.

Dimitri let go of me for a second, standing back and holding out the box. He took the ring out, holding it up to the light for a moment, and I felt another tear leak out of the corner of my eye as I held my hand out. He took it gently, as he'd done so many times before, stroking my palm before carefully sliding the ring onto my fourth finger. He kissed the ring, kissed my hand, and then swooped me up in his arms, pressing our lips together, and I felt tears of his own drop onto my face as we smiled into each other's lips.

When we eventually broke apart, I turned to face Lissa, who was almost in my arms immediately.

"Congratulations, Rose!" she squealed, holding me tight and admiring my ring. We received love and good wishes from everybody and spent a happy hour sitting with the family, the two of us virtually inseparable, until heading upstairs for bed, unwilling to let go, even for a second.

As I lay in bed that night, Dimitri's arms around me as he slept peacefully, I stroked his hair and thought to myself. We were going to get married. He'd said, 'will you marry me?' Who knew how far away the marriage was? I was excited at the prospect already, and I knew Lissa would be raring to prepare for it. I smiled to myself as I turned the thoughts over in my head.

Mrs Roza Belikova.

**And so, that's it! The final Final Countdown (ha I'm not funny). Thank you so much for reading this, I hope you enjoyed it! And I'm so sorry it took ages for me to complete. **

**If anybody's still interested, there will be a sequel up on my page within the next hour-I'm not sure how long it should take to appear, but I uploaded it the same time as this. It's called 'Blood Debt' and should hopefully explore more of the problems shown in this, but it's not a necessary read.**

**Thanks again! :D**

**Muse-icfan756**

**xx**


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